太四16 那坐在黑暗中的百姓，看见了大光；并且向那些坐在死亡的境域和阴影中的人，有光出现，照着他们。

　　　九11~12 法利赛人看见，就对耶稣的门徒说，你们的老师为什么和税吏并罪人一同吃饭？耶稣听见，就说，强健的人用不着医生，有病的人才用得着。

　　主利用法利赛人提出问题的机会，非常甜美地启示祂自己是医生。在马太九章十二节，我们看见主回答法利赛人的问题说，“强健的人用不着医生，有病的人才用得着。”主告诉法利赛人，这些税吏和罪人是病人，主对他们不是审判官，乃是医生，是医治者。属天国度的王，在祂尽职为着国度呼召人跟从祂的事上，是作医生，不是作审判官。审判官的审判是按着公义，医生的医治是按着怜悯和恩典。那些被祂作成属天国度子民的人，乃是患麻风（八2~4）、瘫痪（5~13，九2~8）、发烧（八14~15）、鬼附（16、28~32）、患各样疾病的（16）以及受人藐视的税吏并罪人（九9~11）。若是祂作审判官，临到这些可怜的人，他们就都会被定罪、被弃绝，没有一个够资格、被选上并蒙呼召，成为属天国度的子民。然而祂来尽职是作医生，医治、恢复、点活并拯救他们，使他们能重新构成祂属天的新公民，给祂用以在这败坏的地上，建立祂属天的国。主这里的话，含示自义的法利赛人，不领会他们需要主作医生。他们认为自己很强健，因此被自义蒙蔽，不晓得自己是有病的（马太福音生命读经，三六八至三六九页）。

　　Matt. 4:16 “The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death, to them light has risen.”

　　9:11-12 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, Why does your Teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners? Now when He heard this, He said, Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.

　　The Lord took the opportunity given Him by the Pharisees’ question to give a very sweet revelation of Himself as the Physician. In Matthew 9:12 we see the Lord’s reply to the Pharisees’ question: “Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.” The Lord was telling the Pharisees that these tax collectors and sinners were patients, sick ones, and that to them the Lord was not a Judge but a Physician, a Healer. In calling people to follow Him for the kingdom, the King of the heavenly kingdom ministered as a Physician, not as a Judge. A judge’s judgment is according to righteousness, whereas a physician’s healing is according to mercy and grace. Those whom He made people of His heavenly kingdom were lepers (8:2-4), paralytics (vv. 5-13; 9:2-8), the fever-ridden (8:14-15), the demon-possessed (vv. 16, 28-32), those ill with all kinds of diseases (v. 16), despised tax collectors, and sinners (9:9-11). Had He visited these pitiful people as a Judge, all would have been condemned and rejected, and none would have been qualified, selected, and called to be the people of His heavenly kingdom. However, He came to minister as a Physician, to heal, recover, enliven, and save them so that they might be reconstituted to be His new and heavenly citizens, with whom He could establish His heavenly kingdom on this corrupted earth. The Lord’s word here implies that the self-righteous Pharisees did not realize that they needed Him as a Physician. They considered themselves strong; hence, blinded by their own self-righteousness, they did not know that they were ill. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 311-312)

　　新王〔基督〕那为着诸天之国的职事，不是凭属地的权能，乃是凭属天的大光开始；这光就是王自己作生命的光，照在死亡的阴影中。主作光开始尽职事时，并没有展示能力和权柄。祂和普通人一样行走在海边。但祂在加利利海边临到〔彼得、安得烈、雅各和约翰〕时，像大光一样照在他们身上，照在黑暗、死亡的境域和阴影中。……施浸者约翰是大磁石，但主耶稣是最大的磁石。祂照在这四个门徒身上时，他们就受吸引，并且被俘掳。他们立刻撇下工作而跟从了这小小的拿撒勒人。

　　路加五章记载彼得蒙召时主行了神迹，马太四章却没有记载。然而在马太四章，有吸引头四个门徒的大光。这吸引不是来自主耶稣的所作，乃是来自祂的所是。祂是大光，是大磁石，有吸引人、俘掳人的能力。祂这样吸引并俘掳了头四个门徒。因着主的所作而跟从主的人，没有一个会是可靠或忠信的。可靠的人乃是那些被主的所是抓住的人。彼得、安得烈、雅各和约翰在海边被吸引、被俘掳，不是因看见主的所作，乃是因领悟主的所是。因着他们已经被吸引、被俘掳，他们就成为主耶稣忠信到底的跟从者。最终，他们都因着跟从属天之国的王而殉道了。

　　不仅如此，主耶稣呼召这四个门徒时，祂不是开始一个运动或革命，乃是为着诸天之国的建立吸引门徒归祂自己（马太福音生命读经，一七七至一七八页）。

　　参读：马太福音生命读经，第十二、二十七篇。

　　The new King’s ministry for the kingdom of the heavens began not with earthly power but with heavenly light, which was the King Himself as the light of life, shining in the shadow of death. When the Lord began His ministry as light, He made no display of power and authority. He walked upon the seashore as a common person. But as He came to [Peter, Andrew, James, and John] by the Sea of Galilee, He shined upon them like a great light, shining in the darkness and in the region and shadow of death…John the Baptist was a great magnet. But the Lord Jesus is the greatest magnet of all. As He shined upon those four disciples, they were attracted and captured. They immediately forsook their jobs and followed this little Nazarene.

　　In Matthew 4 there is no record, as in Luke 5, of any miracle being done by the Lord when Peter was called. However, in Matthew 4 there was the great light that attracted the first four disciples. This attraction came not from what the Lord Jesus did; it came from what He was. He was a great light, a great magnet, with the power to attract people and to capture them. In this way He attracted and captured the first four disciples. No one who follows the Lord because of what He does can be trustworthy or faithful. The trustworthy ones are those who are caught by what the Lord is. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were attracted and captured at the seashore not by seeing what the Lord did but by realizing what the Lord was. Because they had been attracted and captured, they became faithful followers of the Lord Jesus unto the end. Eventually, they were all martyred because they followed the King of the heavenly kingdom.

　　Moreover, when the Lord Jesus called these four disciples, He did not start a movement or a revolution. Rather, He attracted the disciples to Himself for the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens. (Life-study of Matthew, p. 146)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msgs. 12, 27